Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

One more pic of Statendam IV in HAL colors

 

New York harbor - 1980 - With ss Rotterdam V on her port side on the other side of the pier

[brucory]

Well done on the 1000 posts so far for a worthwhile thread...

 

Enjoying the posts, pics and history of all the ships.

 

Thanks Copper!!!

 

:D:D:D

[MMDown Under]

My first cruise was Queen Frederica - Chandris Lines - 1969 - Sydney to London, with lots of exotic ports of call via the Pacific, Panama Canal, New York, Rotterdam to London.

 

Leaving port was a festive occasion with bands, streamers, etc.

 

I used to get up at 11 am in time for Greek dancing classes every day - those were the days!

 

I returned by P&O's Chusan in 1970, with lots of exotic ports of call right around Africa (the Suez was closed), India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), around Australia to Brisbane.

 

I returned with 10 pieces of luggage - those were the days!

 

Chusan was the last P&O cruise ship to call into Bombay to change crew, as it became more economical to fly crew to the ship.

 

On each occasion, I shared a quad cabin with 3 other women I hadn't met previously.

 

I have never lost the magical feeling of standing on deck watching a ship come into or out of port.

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was in 1975 on the original Prinsendam to Alaska out of Vancouver, Canada. It was only 8 days so we booked another cruise almost immediately upon returning home. We were hooked. My DH had worked for the CPR as a teenager and sailed the triangle, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and also did the Inside Passage on the CPR ships. He only tolerated my request to cruise because he thought it would be boring. NOT! Thank goodness he loved it as much as I did and we've traveled to many beautiful and exciting ports in the 34 years since.

 

ms Prinsendam I (1973-1980) Built in 1972 as ms Prinsendam by N.V. Scheepswerf en Machine Fabriek (Dockyard and Machine Factory) 'De Merwede', Hardinxveld-Giesendam, the Netherlands (a small town south-east of Rotterdam) for Holland America Line. She was the last cruise ship to be built in the Netherlands and was specifically designed for Far East cruising. There was an option with 'De Merwede' for a sister ship but this was never taken up. Prinsendam was named on 7 July 1972 by Princess Margriet (the current Queen Beatrix' sister) of the Netherlands. In March 1973, she conducted sea trials in the North Sea and then docked at another Dutch shipyard, Dok en Werfmaatschappij (Dock & Shipyard) Wilton-Feijenoord N.V. in Schiedam for fitting out. While here, a fire inside a refuse bin broke out on 24 April 1973 which caused a significant delay in her delivery to HAL. Her acceptance trials took place on 12-13 November 1973 and Prinsendam was finally delivered to her owners that 13th of November 1973. She was the first ship in the line's history to be called Prinsendam.

On 30 November 1973, she departed Rotterdam for her maiden voyage to Indonesia via Southampton, England, Lisbon, Portugal, several African ports, rounding Cape of Good Hope and Djakarta, Indonesia. She then contunued on to Singapore where she arrived on 11 January 1974. On 14 January, she commenced on a schedule of fourteen-day 'Indonesia Adventure' cruises from Singapore to ports of call within the Indonesian archipelago, the former Dutch colony. She also sailed seven-day 'Secret Ports' cruises from Singapore and fourteen-day 'Mystery Island' cruises from Djakarta. She would spent her winters there and her summers, starting in 1975, in Alaskan waters with Vancouver, BC as her homeport. Her Alaskan itinerary consisted of seven-day roundtrip Vancouver cruises with port calls at Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and scenic cruising in Glacier Bay.

On 30 September 1980 upon conclusion of her Alaska season, Prinsendam set off on a North Pacific repositioning cruise from Vancouver back to Singapore with 320 passengers and a crew of 204 onboard. Prinsendam would make one more stop at Ketchikan on 2 October 1980 and would 'scenic cruise' Glacier Bay on 3 October before setting off on her crossing to Japan. At around 12:40 AM on 4 October 1980, while transiting through the Gulf of Alaska in rough seas, approximately 120 miles south-east of Yakutat, a high pressure fuel supply line ruptured causing diesel fuel to spill on to the main engine #2's exhaust manifold which, in turn, started an engine room fire. Prinsendam's Master, Captain Cornelius Wabeke, a thirty-year HAL veteran, at 1:08 AM had his ship's radio officer sent out the following radio call to United States Coast Guard Station Kodiak, AK:

"Passenger ship Prinsendam/PJTA Position 57-38 degrees north and 14-25 degrees west. Fire! Fire in the engine room. Flooding engine room with carbon dioxide. Conditions unknown. Passengers 320. Crew 190."

Captain Wabeke then got on the ships' PA system to inform his passengers that there was a small fire in the engine room, that it was under control, but that he wanted everyone to respond to their muster stations o Promenade Deck. The time was 1:15 AM, the temperature on deck 4 degrees centigrade and Prinsendam was dead in the water. Around 2:00 AM, a decision was made to allow the passengers to move from the open deck to the Main Lounge and Lido Restaurant in order for them to get out of the cold. There, members of the ships' cast, in an attempt to boost morale, spontaneously broke out in rousing renditions of the musical Oklahoma and other Rodgers and Hammerstein hits. However, an increasing amount of smoke from the fire also materialised inside the lounge and suddenly Captain Wabeke had to content with the fire having spread to the Main Deck dining room by spontaneous combustion. He subsequently ordered his passengers to leave the Main Lounge and Lido Restaurant. Many went back onto the open decks, the theater and Prinsen Bar.

As a result of the initial radio call put out by Prinsendam, a rescue operation was set in motion coordinated by the United States Coast Guard North Pacific Rescue and Coordination Center in Juneau, AK. United States Air Force fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (from Anchorage's Elmendorf AFB, AK) United States Coast Guard fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (from Air Station Kodiak, AK and Air Station Sitka, AK) and Canadian Air Force helicopters (from CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, BC) as well as the USCG cutters Boutwell (from Juneau), Woodrush (from Sitka) and Mellon (from Vancouver) all responded to the scene.

At approximately 4:00 AM, the first rescue aircraft, a USCG HH-3F Pelican helicopter from Sitka appeared overhead Prinsendam. Radio contact with Prinsendam's Bridge was established and firefighting equipment was requested. With that, the Pelican left for the 1,000-ft. U.S. oil supertanker Williamsburgh, approx. fifty miles away and having changed course to also respond to Prinsendam's location, to pick up that equipment. Shortly after the helo left, however, the fire spread into the Lounge. This forced Captain Wabeke to have a SOS transmitted. By this time, the first fixed wing rescue aircraft, the USCG HH-130 Hercules from Sitka had arrived overhead and assumed the duties of the 'on scene commander' of the rescue operation. At 4:54 AM, Captain Wabeke gave the order to abondon ship. With few exceptions, passengers and crew members accomplished this in an orderly fashion. By the time Prinsendam's lifeboats were lowered into the sea, the ship was by now listing and billowing smoke.

The first Coast Guard Pelican returned to Prinsendam and lowered in succession, its rescue swimmer, a portable water pump, fire hoses and other firefighting equipment to Prinsendam's Lido Terrace deck. By 7:30 AM, that helo had to depart for Yakutat to refuel but at approx. 7:45 AM the tanker Williamsburgh arrived on scene. The Williamsburg would become the primary receiver of Prinsendam passengers and crew because she had two helicopter landing pads onboard and facilities for five hundred people. Soon after, the first of Prinsendam's five lifeboats put in the water was tied up alongside the huge tanker and the first of Prinsendam's passenger climbed a forty foot! Jacob's ladder to the top.

Due to the difficulties encountered with this process, the time it took to accomplish and the advanced age of many of Prinsendam's passengers which would make the rope ladder climb extremely risky, a decision was made to start hoisting the remaining occupants of the lifeboats into the orbiting helicopters who would then transfer them to the deck of the Williamsburg. This initially involved the USCG HH-3F Pelican from Sitka and the USAF CH-3E Jolly Green Giant from Elmendorf but into the morning and early afternoon, up to six helicopters, including the Canadians with two CH-113 Labrador helicopters, would join the operation. The U.S. Air Force aircraft wound up having its two P.J.'s or Pararescue Jumpers, literally 'jump' into the frigid sea and swim to lifeboat #6 to assist with the hoisting process. In the first hour of the hoist operation, 150 passengers, both men and women, were taken from their lifeboats, into the helos and to the Williamsburgh. Some passengers were taken straight to Yakutat as the helos needed to refuel.

By late afternoon, just about all of Prinsendam's passengers, many of her crew and some officers had made it onboard the Williamsburgh. The ship was allowed to leave the scene and proceed with her new precious cargo to Valdez, AK. By then, the Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (1:45 PM) was on scene, followed by the cutters Woodrush and Mellon. Taking over as on-scene commander, Boutwell's crew used their motor surf boats to transfer the remaining people from Prinsendam's lifeboats. By 8:00 PM all individuals had been removed from the remaining lifeboats and so had Prinsendam's remaining crew and captain from the stricken ship. One problem remained: Lifeboat #6 with passengers, crew and the two Air Force PJ's was unaccounted for. It was not located until 2:30 AM on 5 October when her occupants were taken onboard the Boutwell.

This rescue operation was deemed particularly noteworthy and important because of the distance involved having to reach the scene by the rescuers, the coordination of independent organizations, and the fact that all 524 passengers and crew were rescued without loss of life or serious injury

On 7 October, the Canadian tug boat Commodore Straits began towing the still smoldering Prinsendam hull enroute to Portland, Ore. However, water continued to enter the hapless ship and on 11 October 1980 at 9:30 local time, the ship heeled over and eventually sank about fifty miles west of Sitka, AK.

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Some of the resources involved in the rescue of Prinsendam's passengers and crew:

 

 

Supertanker Williamsburgh

 

USCG high Endurance cutter Boutwell WHEC-719

 

USCG high endurance cutter Mellon WHEC-717

USCG seagoing buoy tender Woodrush WLB-407

HH-130

 

HH-3F Pelican

[Copper10-8]

 

CH-3E Jolly Green Giant

 

CH-113 Labrador

[BJane]

I just stumbled across this post so if my comments have already been posted, I apologize. I remember hearing about the sinking and I followed all the news reports. Several years ago when we were in Valdez I got to see one of the original lifeboats. It was on display outside of the nice little museum they have. There are also framed articles showing accounts of the tragedy. The lifeboat is so primitive compared to those of today. It's really hard to imagine what those people went through.

 

My first cruise was in 1979 on NCL Starward. We went to Port Antonio in Jamaica, Ocho Rios also in Jamaica, Port au Prince in Haiti and Nassau. And yes, I was completely hooked on cruising. Over the years we were able to go on 44 of them. We had just about decided not to do any more cruises since things aboard ship have changed so much over the years. My husband has now passed away, but I have photos and details of all our trips. I am thankful for all the wonderful memories I have.

[Copper10-8]

I just stumbled across this post so if my comments have already been posted, I apologize. I remember hearing about the sinking and I followed all the news reports. Several years ago when we were in Valdez I got to see one of the original lifeboats. It was on display outside of the nice little museum they have. There are also framed articles showing accounts of the tragedy. The lifeboat is so primitive compared to those of today. It's really hard to imagine what those people went through.

 

My first cruise was in 1979 on NCL Starward. We went to Port Antonio in Jamaica, Ocho Rios also in Jamaica, Port au Prince in Haiti and Nassau. And yes, I was completely hooked on cruising. Over the years we were able to go on 44 of them. We had just about decided not to do any more cruises since things aboard ship have changed so much over the years. My husband has now passed away, but I have photos and details of all our trips. I am thankful for all the wonderful memories I have.

 

 

Starward (1968-present) Built in 1968 as ms Starward by AG Weser Werk Seebeck in Bremerhaven, (then) West Germany. She was delivered to her owners, Norwegian Caribbean Line, which later would become Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), on 29 November 1968 and made her first cruise for them on 21 December 1968. She was their first purpose-built ship and originally had a stern car door as well as garage space to take trailers, specifically to Jamaica. This space was later converted to cabins.

 

 

A sister to NCL's Skyward, she initially operated out of Miami, Fl. on seven-day cruises to the Caribbean islands. She was later moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico for seven-day cruises to the southern Caribbean.

 

 

In 1994, Starward was sold to Greece-based Festival Cruises, their second ship, who renamed her Bolero and, after a refit in Piraeus, began operating her on Mediterranean itineraries. Her first cruise for them took place on 22 December 1995 out of Genoa, Italy. She would sail from there and from Savona, Italy to the Canaries and/or Portugal, Morocco and mainland Spain. In addition, she did Western and Northern Europe runs.

 

Summer seasons would find her sailing on seven-day cruises from Venice, Italy to Greece calling at Dubrovnik, Croatia; Katakolon, Delos, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Patmos and Pylos, Greece. In December 1997, she operated a fifteen-night transAtlantic crossing from Genoa to Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, followed by a series of one week charter cruises.

.

 

In 2000, she was chartered to Great Britain-based First Choice Cruises and in 2002 to Spanish Cruise Line (SCL), followed by charters to other travel companies.

 

 

When Festival collapsed in January 2004, she was laid up at Gibraltar, until being purchased by Orient Queen Shipping in November 2004 and renamed Orient Queen in 2005.

 

She wasoperated by Abou Mehri Cruises of Beirut, Lebanon and managed by Österreichischer Lloyd. At the time, she wasthe only Lebanese-owned cruise ship. Orient Queen cruised her first season out of Beirut in the spring of 2005. In November 2005, she was repositioned to Dubai to begin what would turn out to be an unsuccessful Persian Gulf cruise winter program, providing the first luxury cruise line service between Dubai and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Quatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).

 

 

She was repositioned back to Beirut to begin a 2006 cruise season in the Mediterranean Sea. On July 19, 2006, Orient Queen was chartered by the U.S. Government and used to evacuate United States (and other countries') citizens from Lebanon as a result of the armed conflict between that country and Israel. She took those evacuees to the port of Larnaca in Cyprus.

[Copper10-8]

In August 2006, Orient Queen was sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines for which she sailed on Med cruises. In the spring of 2007, she ran a World Cruise charter for German-based Delphin Seereisen when construction of that lines' new Delphin Voyager was delayed. She returned to Louis when that cruise was completed and is currently sailing for them.

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the Oceanic (owned by Home Lines). It was September, 1975. No other ship or line can come close.

 

Will be going on my 48th cruise with HAL in October.

 

Sally

 

 

ss Oceanic (1965-present) Built in 1965 by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in Monfalcone, Italy. She was the first newbuild to be purpose-built for Home Lines and was designed as a two-class liner. Planned in the twilight years of the age of the ocean liner, she had many features that are commonplace in cruise ships today, like an engines-aft design, balcony suites, and a midships swimming pool with a "Magradome", a retractable roof over the pool. Oceanic was launched from drydock on 15 January 1963. She was originally to be launched a week before, but due to unusually cold weather in Italy the launch had to be delayed. Her fitting out took over two years, until the ship was finally delivered to Home Lines in March 1965.

 

She was to operate in summer on Homes Lines' Canadian route from Cuxhaven, Germany, Le Havre, France and Southampton, England to Montreal, Quebec. However, by the time of her delivery and due to the increasing popularity of the jet airliner, the company had dropped their regular transatlantic line voyages. So, she headed for New York instead, where she operated seven-day cruises to Nassau, the Bahamas throughout the summer, while operating extended cruises throughout the Caribbean in the winter.

 

On 31 March 1965, she left on her maiden voyage, a transatlantic crossing with (only) 200 fare-paying passengers from Genoa, Italy New York City. When she departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, an intermediate stop, an interesting incident occurred when she arrived in the Big Apple. The stevedores/dockworkers happened to be on strike and thus would not accept the ropes required for docking. They were there alright, right on the wharves, but they just kept throwing those lines back in the river. Oceanic's captain was able to dock just the same.

 

Oceanic would turn out to be one of the most successful cruise ships of her time, operating consistently at 95% capacity with cruises booked up to one year in advance. In 1982 Home Lines took delivery of their new ms Atlantic, which supplanted Oceanic as the company's flagship. Another new ship, ms Homeric, was slated for delivery in 1986 so in preparation for this, Oceanic was put up for sale by Home Lines.

 

 

 

After 21 years of service, Oceanic was sold to Premier Cruises in 1985. They renamed her StarShip Oceanic and initially placed her on three and four-day cruises from Port Canaveral, Fl to Nassau, the Bahamas in 1986. This cruise could be combined with a stay at Walt Disney World.

 

 

Later during her career with Premier Cruises she was often marketed as "The Big Red Boat", and in 2000 she was renamed Big Red Boat I, with no change to her itineraries. When Premier Cruise Line folded in the fall of 2000, the ship was detained by Bahamian port authorities in Freeport and then laid up. Premier Cruises was forced to put the ship up for sale.

 

 

The ship was purchased by the Spanish-tour operator Pullmantur Cruises on 30 December 2000. They sailed her to Cadiz, Spain where she was refurbished. She received a white hull and also reverted back to her original name of Oceanic. Beginning in May 2001, she has been operating for Pullmantur on cruises around the Mediterranean with Barcelona as her home port. During her career with Pullmantur, Oceanic has been gradually rebuilt by removing flammable materials so that the ship would adhere to the new SOLAS regulations coming into effect in 2010.

 

 

 

In March 2009 it was reported that the ship had been sold to the Japan-based Peace Boat organization, with a delivery date of April 2009.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the ss Himalaya which was a P&O ship. This was back in 1971. The journey was from Sydney to Melbourne, and was a 2 night 3 day cruise. And yes this did hook me on cruising!

 

Regards

 

Michael

 

 

ss Himalaya (1948-1975) Built as ss Himalaya in 1948 by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. Naval Construction Yard, Barrow-in-Furness for the British-based P&O Line (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company). She would be P&O's first new passenger liner of the postwar period. Himalaya was constructed with a number of improvements, the first of which, although controversial at the time, was a funnel cowl to keep the liner's decks clear of debris without causing interference to her boilers.

 

Following sea trials in August 1949 and acceptance by her owners, she departed on her maiden voyage on 6 October 1948 on what would be her primary route: London (Tilbury Docks) to Southampton, Gibraltar, Marseille (return voyage only), Naples, Port Said, transitting the Suez Canal, Aden (Yemen), Bombay, Colombo (Ceylon), Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Himalaya, at that time, was the fastest and largest ship P&O had ever owned with a top speed of 25 knots which allowed her to become a record breaker as well as cut the UK to Bombay passage by 5 days. She reduced the overall voyage to Australia from 38 days to 'just' 28 days

 

 

 

The Himalaya was a contemporary of Orient Lines' Orcades and these two ships marked a gradual coming together of the new liners of each company in the postwar era.

 

 

In January 1958, P&O and Orient services to Australia were extended across the Pacific in a joint service marketed as Orient & Pacific Line. Himalaya inaugurated this service with sailings from Sydney continuing to Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver and San Francisco.

On 12 January 1959, she departed London/Tilbury on a roundtrip of 79,000 km (49,250 miles) to Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Japan and Singapore, which would serve as the opening of the Orient & Pacific Lines' United States to Japan service.

In the winter of 1959-1960, she was refitted, including the installation of an air conditioning system, in The Netherlands and in May 1960, her management and operation was transferred to P&O Orient Lines.

 

Following the sale of the ‘Strath’ Class liners by P&O, Himalaya was converted in 1963 by R & H Green and Silley Weir Ltd, Tilbury into a 'Tourist Class only' operation with 1,416 passengers. On 21 November 1963, she set sail from London, bound for Sydney on her very first one-class voyage.

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In the 1970s, she was primarily operated on a series of cruises from Australia and New Zealand interspersed in the spring with cruises from Southampton, the two interlinked by "positioning" voyages. On 27 March 1973, she arrived in Southampton with 1,400 passengers, no less than 950 of them women, on a World Discovery tour organised by the Australian magazine "Women's Weekly".

 

On 30 October 1974, she arrived back in Sydney after her final voyage from the United Kingdom for P&O. Upon her retirement from service, she was purchased by Japan-based Mitsui & Co who in turn sold her to the Taiwan-based Tong Cheng Manufacturing Co. Ltd for scrapping. She arrived at the breakers in Kaoshiung, Taiwan on 28 November 1974 and her demolition began in January 1975.

[Cqis]

Was it on Enchanted Isle or Enchanted Seas?

I believe it was Enchanted Sea. I had to find the pictures. Two of the ladies are now deceased. Died 2008. My mother, and thank God me, are still alive.

[Copper10-8]

I believe it was Enchanted Sea. I had to find the pictures. Two of the ladies are now deceased. Died 2008. My mother, and thank God me, are still alive.

 

Well both of those were sisters so it ain't that easy to recognise and/or them them apart;)

 

Enchanted Seas - Commodore Cruise Line

 

Enchanted Isle - Commodore Cruise Line

[spirit317]

My first ship was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. I went to New York City along with five girlfriends in 1975 to sail to Nassau and Bermuda on the Rotterdam. It was a seven day cruise and I shared an inside cabin with another friend. We had bunk beds! I think now that this was the lower steerage in the movie Titantic; but back then I thought it was everything!

 

I met a guy on this cruise and we were married 1-1/2 years later. Still are! We are still cruising. Our dream cruise is coming up the end of April when we will be in Europe.

 

We sent our son (he's in his 20's) on his first cruise last year and now he's hooked. He is single and looking so maybe he will get lucky also!

[woody14h]

Our first was the Rotterdam in April 1975. We were so hooked that we even took our 7 year old son on each of 10 subsequent cruises. ( HAL, Princess. Cunard) until he graduated college then he took his wife. We are celebrating MDW's 70th this year on the Westerdam in November with our son, DIL and grandson age 7. Talk about a vacation getting in your blood. Thank you HAL,Princess, Cunard and Celebrity.

[Copper10-8]

My first ship was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. I went to New York City along with five girlfriends in 1975 to sail to Nassau and Bermuda on the Rotterdam. It was a seven day cruise and I shared an inside cabin with another friend. We had bunk beds! I think now that this was the lower steerage in the movie Titantic; but back then I thought it was everything!

 

I met a guy on this cruise and we were married 1-1/2 years later. Still are! We are still cruising. Our dream cruise is coming up the end of April when we will be in Europe.

 

We sent our son (he's in his 20's) on his first cruise last year and now he's hooked. He is single and looking so maybe he will get lucky also!

 

Our first was the Rotterdam in April 1975. We were so hooked that we even took our 7 year old son on each of 10 subsequent cruises. ( HAL, Princess. Cunard) until he graduated college then he took his wife. We are celebrating MDW's 70th this year on the Westerdam in November with our son, DIL and grandson age 7. Talk about a vacation getting in your blood. Thank you HAL,Princess, Cunard and Celebrity.

 

 

 

ss Rotterdam V (1959-present) Built in 1959 as ss Rotterdam by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Drydock Company), Rotterdam, the Netherlands for the Holland Amerika Lijn/Holland America Line for which she would become their very popular flagship. At 748 feet long, 94 feet wide and weighing 38,650 tons, she would be the largest ship ever built in the Netherlands and she would sail for HAL for 39 years!

 

She was the fifth ship in the line's history to bear the name of Rotterdam, the principal city in the Dutch province of Zuid (South) Holland, second largest municipality in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. The name 'Rotterdam' originally comes from a dam built on the river Rotte.

 

On 13 September 1958, Rotterdam V was launched by her godmother, HRH Queen Juliana of The Netherlands. Upon the completion of succesful sea trials, she set out on her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York, via Le Havre, France and Southampton, England, on 3 September 1959, arriving in New York on 11 September. One of her passengers was the then Crown Princess of The Netherlands, Princess, now Queen, Beatrix.

 

She then departed New York on her first cruise on 11 December, 1959, a 49-day cruise circumnavigating South America. She would make her first world cruise in 1961, a seventy seven-day roundtrip from New York. In 1969, Rotterdam made her last regularly scheduled transatlantic crossing and was converted to a one-class cruise ship. She would, however, make four more world cruises in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997.

 

 

From September until October 1989, she received a $15 million dollar (mostly interior) refit at a Portland, Oregon shipyard. On 31 January 1996, HAL announced that the much loved ship would be taken out of service as of 30 September 1997. The reason given by her owners (later disputed) was the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) requirements coming into effect and the funds, supposedly U.S. 40 million, required to update the thirty-eight year old vessel. Rotterdam would make a farewell cruise at the end of her Alaska season from Vancouver, BC to Ft Lauderdale, Fl.

 

In October 1997, she was purchased by Premier Cruises who had her upgraded to SOLAS standards and renamed Rembrandt. Premier kept her classic ocean liner 'feel' and on 21 December 1997, she departed on her first cruise to South America. The summer of 1998 found her cruising in the Mediterranean. Premier however, also had grandiose plans to rename the ship 'Big Red Boat IV' and to paint her hull a bright red, an idea not very popular with her fans. As Big Red Boat IV she would sail out of Los Angeles on three and four-day party cruises to Mexico in the winter and out of Vancouver, BC on seven-day Alaska cruises in the summer.

 

As faith would have it, Premier Cruise Line ran into financial difficulties. On 13 September, 2000 during a northbound New England/Canada cruise, her captain was ordered to return his ship to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After off-loading her passengers, the ss Rembrandt was placed under arrest. As a special condition of her warrants, she was allowed to depart for Freeport, the Bahamas where she arrived on 30 December 2000 and was laid-up pending sale. Premier Cruise Lines filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.

 

 

On 7 May 2003 Rembrandt became the property of s.s. Rotterdam BV (part of RDM holding or Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij, her original builders). On 17 June 2004, the Polish ocean-going tug 'Englishman' towed her from the Bahamas to the Camell Laird yard at Gibraltar where she arrived on 12 July 2004 and where renovation work was scheduled for her. She would remain docked at the British Crown Colony until October 2005 (see below). By that time, she also had new owner, 'Rederij De Rotterdam BV'.

 

 

On 25 October 2005, after a tow from Gibraltar by the Spanish tug 'V B Artico', she arrived at Cadiz, Spain, for additional (dry) dock maintenance including the repainting of her hull in her original light gray color. In addition, she was renamed Rotterdam and registered in the same city. 'V B Artico' would tow her again, this time from 10 to 27 February 2006, from Cadiz to Gdansk, Poland where her asbestos was removed and further renovating would take place (see below).

 

 

On 25 August 2006 she received yet another tow, this time to Wilhelmshaven, Germany (see below) where she stayed until August 2008 for additional exterior restoration work.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

On 2 September 2008, she left Wilhelmshaven and on 4 September 2008, she made her triumphant return (see above and below) to her city of birth, Rotterdam, where she was berthed at the “Katendrechtse Hoofd” (Head of Katendrecht) located on the northern edge of Rotterdam Zuid (South) in the Maashaven (River Maas harbor) and where she will serve as a floating hotel, static museum ship and conference center.

 

[Copper10-8]

Our first was the Veendam- December 2006, in the Caribbean. My very generous parents invited us to join them on a cruise, otherwise we probably wouldn't have ever gone on one.

 

I can't say that it got us "hooked" the way it does many people, however it did make us aware that cruising is a viable option for us, given the right circumstances. We will still tend to pick land based vacations, but we no longer think that cruises are "just for old people." Port intensive cruises or ones that get us to places that we can't get to easily on our own (like Alaska or Antarctica) are going to be the ones that we go for.

 

However, if we do any international travel over the next few years with our daughter, it will probably be on a cruise. She has food allergies, and knowing that I would only need to work with one set of people and knowing that people in the kitchen will speak English would make a huge difference in my comfort level on getting her fed and preventing reactions.

 

On the other hand, if hubby and I go off on our own, we will probably continue to travel the way we did pre-Grace- wandering style. :)

 

So, "Thanks, Mom and Dad for opening our eyes to a new option!"

 

Now our first voyage by water almost turned us off on the whole concept all together... We took a 3 day trip on the passenger ferry down from Puerto Montt, Chile down to Punta Arenas. The trip would have been fine, but we got either food poisoning or some terrible stomach bug on that part of our trip. We were beyond sick and continued that way for the rest of our trip in Chile. It was very frustrating to be at Torres Del Paine where we were supposed to be hiking and be so weak that we could barely walk.

 

 

m/s Veendam (1996-present) Built in 1996 as ms Veendam by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Marghera (Venice), Italy for Holland America Line. She is the fourth ship in HAL history to bear the name Veendam and the last of the four ships in the 'S' class (Statendam, Maasdam and Ryndam are her sisters). She was named after the town in the northeastern Dutch province of Groningen ('veen' means 'peat' in Dutch).

 

The four ships are just about identical, having only small changes in their internal layout. However, each one has a different decorative theme. Veendam has the distinction of being the first HAL ship built at Fincantieri's Marghera yard (all of HAL's new-builts since then have been constructed at Marghera). Her three sisters had all been constructed at the builder's Monfalcone yard.

 

After running technical trials in the Adriatic, she was handed over to her owners on 1 May 1996. She then commenced a transatlantic crossing, with crew but without passengers, to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. under the command of Captain W.H. Eulderink. After a christening and naming ceremony there by her godmother, actress Debbie Reynolds, on 15 May 1996, she commenced her inaugural/maiden ten-day cruise. Her "area of operations" has been the Caribbean, Alaska as well as European itineraries. For a while, Veendam had the distinction of being routinely commanded by a non-Dutch, and more specifically, a British captain. In addition, she was the only HAL ship not homeported in Rotterdam until 10 January 2006 when she switched from a Bahamian flag and registration (Nassau) to a Dutch one (Rotterdam - see pics below).

 

 

In April 2005, Holland America Cruise Line announced a program of up-scaling their cruise ships, cruise line image and passenger cruise experience called the 'Signature of Excellence program'. This enhancement program included stateroom amenities, luxury beds and bed linens, a Neptune Lounge, Pinnacle Grill, Explorations Cafe, Greenhouse Spa & Salon, and a Culinary Arts Center on all ships and the extension of the gym out and above the bridge. In addition, changes were made for non-adults including newly expanded youth facilities with the "Club HAL" program and the Loft and the Oasis for teens. After a dry-dock period in Freeport, The Bahamas, from 3-28 January 2006, Veendam initiated her SOE program on a western Caribbean cruise in late January 2006

 

 

 

In August 2008, HAL announced further enhancements to, as well as new features on, five of the line's most popular ships as part of its ongoing Signature of Excellence program. Over the next two years the four 'S' sisters as well as the lead ship of the 'R' class, ms Rotterdam, will undergo extensive dry docks to create new venues, new staterooms and new decor. The 18-month, $200 million program began when Veendam entered dry dock #3 on 2 April 2009 at the Grand Bahama Shipyard at Freeport, the Bahamas.

 

While in dry dock, the ships’ aft deck will be expanded to create "The Retreat" and a new bar concept called "Mix". All existing staterooms will be upgraded and new staterooms will be added. The ships also will have new lanai staterooms that open on to Lower Promenade Deck’s exterior teak deck. Spa staterooms near the Greenhouse Spa and Salon will have special amenities.

 

The last of the five ships, Maasdam, is slated for completion in late 2010. Passenger capacity of the five ships, based on a two per cabin, will be increased to 1,350 for the 'S' class and to 1,404 for the Rotterdam.

[ANSalberg]

Copper 10-8. Your history and your own knowledge of the history of ships and cruising is amazing -and I have enjoyed tapping into your expertise; This has been a BOOK'S worth of VERY well-presented information -And I thank you for sharing it!

Anne

[kiberkid]

 

Our 1st cruise was on NCL Sea. We did a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas! We had an inside cabin which was 110 sq ft. Pretty cosy!! We cruised in the November after 911 & docked in Maimi the day the plane crashed into a residential area in NYC. We were "locked" on board until early afternoon when the officials realized the crash was due to mechinal issue & not a terrorist attack.

[Copper10-8]

Copper 10-8. Your history and your own knowledge of the history of ships and cruising is amazing -and I have enjoyed tapping into your expertise; This has been a BOOK'S worth of VERY well-presented information -And I thank you for sharing it!

Anne

 

Thank you Ma'am!:) If this was all in my head, however, I would have a headache. A lot of this data is available on the internet, some in little pieces that have to be put together which can take time, some not. When I first started this thread, I just attempted to show posters what had happened to their first cruise ship.

The more I got into it (the thread) though, the more interested I found myself becoming in a particular ship's history. A lot of them, especially some of the older ships, have led very interesting lives. Most of them have unfortunately been broken up for scrap, sank, left to rot away, etc. with a few exceptions such as Queen Mary, United States (sad shape), Rotterdam V, and some others. It's a shame, some like ss France/Norway, Leonardo DaVinci, Rex, Normandie, etc. and others could not have been spared the scrapper's torch!

[DFD1]

John, You are so right. I still wince when I think we let the France/Norway be cut up and sold for scrap. She was a remarkable ship, strong, beautiful, and unique.

 

I realize these wonderful ships have finite lives, but it still hurts to see them "slaughtered" in the end. I wish there was a better way.

[socialworker]

It was either 1980 or 1981 when my pre-teen daughter and I sailed to the Bahamas on the Emerald Seas. We thought we had died and went to heaven!

[spirit317]

Copper 10-8, thanks ever so much for the great pictures and history on the Rotterdam!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The more I got into it (the thread) though, the more interested I found myself becoming in a particular ship's history.

 

Many , many thanks for a wonderful thread.

I am so glad you not only "got into it",

but you have taken the the time and trouble to share the knowledge with all of us.

The history of ships is a fascinating world and your descriptions and illustrations are just wonderful.

Thank you.